Born This Way
by zArkham
Summary: Shortly after the war Luna Lovegood suddenly up and disappears. For years there is not a hint of her before Harry Potter gets a clue that brings him backstage of the Rose Garden to find a startling secret. Harry/Luna


**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: **_It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the grace of coffee that thoughts acquire speed, the back acquires strains, the strains become a warning. The warning is that I make no money from this. It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion. _

**DISCLAIMER THE SECOND: **No pop-stars were injured in the making of this fic.

**BORN THIS WAY**

**ROSE GARDEN, PORTLAND, OREGON, AUGUST 19th 2010 – EVENING**

Luna carefully moved her wand in precise movements. Her hair responded as it wrapped its way around the prop she had chosen for tonight's performance. With a final flick, her hair hardened. Unless someone hit it with a bat, her hair would stay put till she released it. A further charm released enough surface hair to cover so as she moved it would look natural enough.

Luna looked at herself in the mirror. While most would find her costume odd and extravagant, she was happy with its inherent symbolism. It also showed off her body which had matured quite a bit from the lithe girl who led a covert rebellion in school before being carted away and tortured. Her eyes, however, still seemed to have their normal perpetual look of surprise. Of course now she look smashing if she thought so herself.

She touched up her lips and did some exaggerated kisses towards the mirror.

"I'm betting there are a lot of fans who would die to get those kisses you are wasting Luna," A voice behind her said.

While startled, Luna made no overt movements before slowly putting her wand on the table in front of her and then pushing it out of her reach. She then laid her hands on the table to make sure she was as helpless as possible. "I am amazed it took the Ministry so long to finally catch me," she said evenly.

With a twirl of fabric, Harry Potter pulled off his invisibility cloak. While looking impassive, he didn't look angry or disappointed. "Even with all the changes, do you honestly think most of the people back home would look for someone who is seen by millions of Muggles throughout the world?"

Luna gave a tight, self-satisfied smile, "No they would not; hence my choice."

Harry gestured and Luna's wand flew into his hand. A flick of his own wand created soft glows around the room. Where there was magic, there was a slight green glow. "I'm glad to see you work to keep the Muggles from seeing you as well as the Magicals."

Luna shrugged, "Why break any more laws than I already have?"

Harry nodded as his green eyes seemed to pierce her brilliant blue ones, "Why indeed?"

Luna watched as Harry sat on a folding chair backwards; his arms resting on the backrest. "I'm glad I caught up with you here. I like Portland more than Seattle or even Vancouver up in B.C. The beer is a lot better and who can resist the allure of America's largest independent bookstore?"

Luna couldn't help but chuckle as she turned her chair to face Harry, "Do not forget one of the last two floating ballrooms in America."

Harry smiled, "There is that. Funny how dancing was something which terrified me so back in Fourth Year is now something I rarely have time for to the point where I miss it."

"Have I kept you away from the Ministry balls and House parties? Ginevra must be heart broken," Luna said with a touch of sarcasm.

Harry shrugged, "Wouldn't know. I haven't been with Ginny for years."

Luna's eyebrows shot up, "Really? I cannot believe Ginevra would let go of her _Boy-Who-Lived_ to say nothing of the _Man-Who-Won_."

Harry snorted, "Neither of which was me. Ginny finally got tired of me not being the rich, playboy hero she had always wanted in her dreams. Hell if the truth were told the real hero was Hermione. I would have never have gotten anywhere without her. She was and still is the brilliant one. I just mostly did what she told me too."

Luna couldn't help but snort herself, "Was it brilliance to end up with Ronald? I think Wrackspurts are not enough of an explanation for her taste in men. I think she may have had a mild case of the bends when Viktor brought her to the surface too fast in the Second Task. I mean did you notice she would get her middle name wrong from time to time?"

Harry grimaced, "Ah then you haven't heard. No, Hermione wasn't brain damaged. It seems old Molly Weasley wanted to help out her inept youngest son in the love department. No one told either of us how good at potions Molly was."

Luna blinked in surprise, "She used potions on you too?"

Harry shook his head, "Oh no. She knew the risk of trying to potion up the last heir to House Potter. I think, even if I can't prove it, she had certain items charmed to move me along down that road though. Once I had gotten back into a relationship with Ginny, I'm sure they were safely packed away. Of course this also meant that when I didn't fulfill Ginny's fantasy of how her hero should act, she could dump me at will. These days she gets her media fix as the darling of the Holyhead Harpies with all the lavish parties and groupies one could ask for."

Luna nodded. Using potions or charms to get a boy or girl to notice you at Hogwarts was one thing. It was another to try and get an heir to an Ancient and Most Noble House into marriage with them. Ginny's actions didn't surprise Luna; she had always wanted to be rich and the center of attention. In her own way, Ginny had craved the reflected glory from the _Boy-Who-Lived _as much as Ronald had.

"Well considering Molly is a Pureblood, I am guessing she got off with a slap on the wrists like the Malfoys did." Luna said with sigh. Seeing Lucius working to buy his way out of prison for a third time had been one of the things which had almost compelled her to leave. If it weren't for magic, she would still bear the scars of her time in the Malfoy dungeon. Her mental scars, Luna felt, would probably never heal.

Harry's face hardened, "Oh no there were a lot of changes made once I got my coalition together in the Wizengamot. Lucius and Narcissa got the Veil. Draco is only alive because of a debt I repaid to Narcissa for lying to Riddle after he AK'ed me. Even then as Lord Black I retroactively dissolved Narcissa's marriage so now he's just Draco Greengrass since he married Astoria. House Malfoy is extinct."

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment, "So I take it then that Molly is in Azkaban?"

"Was in Azkaban," Harry said hollowly. His tone made it obvious that Molly hadn't lasted long.

"Sad that Dumbledore did not get the same treatment." Luna mused.

Harry made a dismissive gesture, "I don't think Azkaban would be enough punishment for him. So many lives wasted due to his poorly thought-out schemes. So much time wasted. After I began to find out the truth…well I have a hard time looking Dennis in the eye or even Susan. It is bad enough when I'm with my godson Teddy. None of those killed should have died they way they did because Albus bloody Dumbledore couldn't seem to trust anyone but himself, not even Snape, with all the information needed to defeat Riddle."

Luna was silent as she watched Harry as he stared into the distance. She knew he was seeing the fallen. She still did. It was one of the reasons she left. Not the main one, but distance had helped keep the nightmares to a rare occurrence. Finally she asked, "So did Ginny or Ron slip up regarding what their mother had done?"

Harry shook his had, "No, Hermione was asked to do a research job for the Unspeakables and in the process of being purged to get into their Inner Sanctum, it came out what had been done to her. A little Veritaserum proved Ron didn't know but even so Hermione left him that night. Probably a good thing too since…" Harry's voice trailed off.

"…since the twins aren't his children but yours." Luna finished.

Harry quickly looked at Luna with surprise lighting his face. Yet for some reason he realized he shouldn't be surprised that she knew a secret which so far as he knew only a handful were in on.

Luna looked a bit disgruntled at the surprise on Harry's face. "I can count Harry. I am betting Hermione was crushed when Ronald left you both. Then you, being the noble man you are, tried to console her. This consolation ended up being in the purest physical form possible. Under such stress and the fact I am sure you did not actually think you would survive the war lent power to your seed. A mere 'morning after' spell would have been useless."

Harry looked away, "Pretty much less than useless." He looked back at her with a puzzled look on his face, "How could you be so…" Harry's voice trailed off again.

"How did I be so sure? Luna interrupted with a smirk. "First there was the time I was helping Hermione with the twins while you and Ron you were off doing manly things with Neville. She was busy with Sebastian and I was with Viola. When I took off her baby bracelet to bathe her, I saw her eye's change for Ron's blue to your green. Obviously Hermione had charmed it that way. I'm betting Viola always wears something with that charm on it unless Hermione doesn't care anymore who knows."

Luna suddenly reached out and ran her hand through Harry's hair. "Then there is their hair. Sebastian's is more the amber red of your mother and not the brassy red of the Weasleys. Both of their hair is unruly more in the ways of yours then Hermione's bushy disaster. I noticed it before I left."

Harry took her hand in his, "You didn't leave. You disappeared. No note, no explanation, no good-byes!" There was sudden pain in his voice.

Luna couldn't help but feel surprise and a heat leapt into her cheeks at tone in Harry's voice. However she kept her voice even, "I had to get away. Daddy was dead, Hogwarts was wrecked and I could not take being hailed by people who did nothing while we all fought and died. Plus I could not take everyone's pity any longer."

Harry cocked his head to the side not realizing he was mimicking a pretty blonde girl from his school time memories, "But that isn't the whole reason, is it Luna?"

"I do not know what you mean," Luna said noncommittally as she looked away from Harry's piercing stare.

Harry snorted again, "Don't insult me Luna. I've been an auror long enough to be good at it as much as I'm sick of it. I know when people are hiding something from me. I don't need legilimency to read you. Your body language is screaming out you're hiding something.

Luna was silent.

Harry paused for a moment then shrugged, "Fine, if that is how you want to play it. To business then; where is Stefani Germanotta?"

Luna looked sad, "She is dead."

"Did you kill her?" Harry said in the tone officials used to divorce themselves from the procedure.

"No. She had been bitten by a runespoor and was dying when I found her. While a squib, she was powerfully empathic. As I comforted her while she lay dying she latched onto me. I think in some sort of primal way she tried to possess me to escape death. It did not work but I suddenly was awash in her life and her memories."

"A bit coincidental you look so alike," Harry said flatly.

Surprisingly Luna nodded, "Actually that is how I noticed her in the first place. I was getting some coffee in a shop in the Lower East Side and the barista asked me if I would take an order to my sister. I was shocked to see how alike we looked. I could see why we were mistaken for sisters."

"So how did it all go down?" Harry asked.

"Well she and I chatted and due to her nature she was able to guess I was a Magical. I was planning on staying in New York City for a bit and she offered to show me the sites and let me bunk with her till I decided where I was going next. She liked to dabble in magic. You know how many Squibs are; trying to be as magical as they can by brewing potions and the like. I think she had bought the runespoor to eventually harvest it for potions when it escaped and bit her. I do not think she realized how having three heads makes runespoors very good at manipulating things like cage doors. Of course since she never had the opportunity to take a class from someone like Hagrid, this is understandable."

Harry looked at Luna before nodding, "Go on. I take it with her memories you decided it would be a good cover for you to assume her identity. I mean why fake it when you can just take it?"

Luna shrugged, "I almost was compelled to. She had music in her soul. Now it was in mine. It was as if I had been possessed by a powerful muse. I may have been running away but with Stefani in my soul I now had to sing, to shine." Her face took on a look of joy, even rapture.

Yet Luna's face began to fall till it was a mask of sorrow, "I had so many things to run from and here was my chance to not only get away from it, I could get away from Looney Lovegood. The girl nobody wanted."

"That's not true, Luna," Harry said gently.

"Isn't it? The only reason you are here is you are an auror, yes?" Luna almost hissed. "Did anyone try to find me? Did any of my so called friends try? No! My best friend stole the only thing that ever matter to me so why should I have stayed?"

Harry got up and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, "Luna that isn't fair to a lot of people. You didn't just leave; you hid. Don't blame others for doing a good job of it. Trust me, Hermione, Neville and I looked. I just happened to find you first because I got a sniff through my work. Neville was rather heartbroken you left. I think he was hoping to find out if there was anything between the two of you. He became very fond of both you and Ginny while you were fighting back at Hogwarts. Since it was quite obvious who Ginny was interested in, I think Neville looked at you with very different eyes."

Luna looked up with eyes suddenly bright with the beginning of tears, "Do you really mean it?"

Harry smiled his signature lop-sided smile while raising his left fist, "I will not tell lies. Besides Luna, he wasn't the only one who was wondering what might have been."

Luna couldn't help give out a gasp of surprise and hope.

Harry pulled Luna up into a hug. He looked her deeply in the eyes, "Luna, when we would be together, I was always happy. You always had a way of making me feel better. Watching you in the D.A. was always amazing because even as we trained for combat, there was an innocence to you. Yet you fought when you had to and you toughed out torture. All through that you never lost that magical thing about you which was uniquely you. Remember the night of the final battle? I had lost my will to fight and it was you who gave me the encouragement to dig deep into myself to fight on."

Harry leaned in and kissed a very surprised Luna. After breaking the kiss, Harry smiled at her wild-eyed stare, "Ginny was fun in that rampant sexy way but she and I didn't want the same things. Like you, I didn't want the fame or the adulation of Britain. After we broke up, Hermione and I gave it a go. I mean we did have the children to think of but we found while we were still the best of friends, our relationship just seemed like that: two friends who now had sex together."

Harry kissed Luna again, "I've dated a few witches and while Daphne, Padma and Katie all had their points, none of them ever touched me like you did. So I have been looking for you ever since."

Luna cocked her head to the side, "So you're not here to arrest me?"

Harry grinned, "Nope, I was hoping to get a date. Maybe see if there is some job I can do in your entourage. I'm tired of dealing with life's dark side. I want to see the other side for a change. I think I'd make a decent roadie if you'd have me."

Luna couldn't help but have her mouth drop open at the thought of Lord Potter-Black working as one of her roadies!

Before she could say anything there was a loud knock on her door, "Ms. Germanotta? You're on in ten!"

Harry kissed Luna again, "You adoring fans await."

Luna looked torn, "I have the one fan I have always wanted right here."

Harry smiled, "I'll still be here. Besides, I love watching you perform. I am and always have been your biggest fan and that hasn't changed." Harry hugged her again and then gave her back her wand.

Luna looked in the mirror before casting a few more spells to finish her look and fix her make-up Harry had inadvertently messed up.

As she made for the door, Harry suddenly called out, "One second, Luna. I have to know something. How much of it is you on stage and how much of it is Stefani?"

Luna paused at the door. "The songs come from what was Stefani but the performance is all Looney Lovegood!" she said with a mischievous smile.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, "I can see that. I wonder how did your personality come through so strongly if you absorbed Stefani Germanotta so deeply?

Luna opened the door. They both could hear the chanting from the stadium above. A rhythmic chant of "Gaga! Gaga! Gaga!" filled the room.

Luna cocked her head to the side and smiled, "I guess I was just born this way!"

_**Finite Narratio!**_

**A/N**: This fic is the result of having too many remixes of the same song on your iTunes! Also don't worry, Hermione got fixed up so she's Hermione Jane Granger again!

**Portland**: Harry and Luna were referring to Powell's Books and the Crystal Ballroom.

**Twins**: Originally I had Hermione and Harry only have a daughter named Rose. However I have an idea for a "One Year Later" addition to this story and it would work out better with Hermione having a boy and a girl.


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